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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHRC Oct 14 2013 minutes FinalHUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION of the City of Palm Springs Minutes from the Oct. 14, 2013 Meeting COMMISSIONERS Present at this Meeting Present FY Year-to-Date FY 2013-14 Excused Absences FY 2013-14 Unexcused Absences Dee Dee Wilson Barton David Brown Jilska Chandrasena Elena Chvany Janel Hunt Jack Newby Wes Rankins Deborah Sutton-Weiss Les Zendle Maddie Barton, Student rep. Sunny Rolfs, Student rep. X X X X X X X X X X 0 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 The above roll call record is based on all meeting Minutes from July 8, 2013 thru Oct. 14, 2013 1. Chair Wilson Barton called the meeting to order at 3 p.m. 2. Student representative Maddie Barton led the flag salute. 3. Commissioner Chandrasena recited the Mission Statement. 4. Commissioners Present: Wilson Barton, Brown, Chandrasena, Chvany, Hunt, Newby, Rankins, Sutton- Weiss and Zendle. Student representative Maddie Barton was present but student representative Sunny Rolfs was absent. 5. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act on or before 6 p.m., on Oct. 10, 2013. 6. PUBLIC COMMENT: None 7. GUEST SPEAKER: Greg Rodriguez, District Director for Congressman Raul Ruiz, provided background and an overview as well as outlining how the Congressman’s office collaborates and works in cooperation with organizations such as the Human Rights Commission. He said most people don’t realize what a Congressional office does as far as helping constituents. They address issues concerning Veterans getting their benefits, Social Security and Medicare issues for seniors as well as housing issues (federal home loan and state loan programs), Section 8 housing and homelessness. Although the federal government can’t directly solve those problems, Mr. Rodriguez said the Congressman’s office has great community partners that it can recommend constituents contact to get help. A lot of that constituent service work, he said, deals with many of the populations that the Human Rights Commission is trying to address this year. Advocating for those people includes, most importantly right now, protecting the legislation that provides the needed resources that funnel through our state and county to the local level, he said. Mr. Rodriguez went through some of the issues the HRC has prioritized for the year and shared with the Commission what the Congressman’s office is working on in those same areas either through legislation or advocacy work. The areas included immigration issues and related legislation, senior issues and entitlement programs such as Medicare as well as bullying and education. Mr. Rodriguez said the Congressman signed on as a co-sponsor of House Resolution HR-1199 which is the Safe Schools Improvement Act of 2013 that basically would take a lot of the state models in anti-bullying efforts and federalize those on a national level as far as education and training programs within school districts Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 2 of 3 Meeting of Oct. 14, 2013 2 nationally. Regarding human trafficking, he said that here in the Valley some of the largest human trafficking is occurring in the state of California outside of the Coachella area because primarily people are brought over the Mexican border and are used for slave labor or prostitution. He said the Congressman and his staff have been meeting with police and the Sheriff’s Department in Coachella to address the human trafficking issue. It goes in combination with the illegal running of drugs as well as gang activity, he said, adding they were able to secure grant money to fund the cost of increasing the work of the gang task force out in that region. He suggested the Commission invite someone from the Sheriff’s Department to speak to them about human trafficking. On the topics of women’s rights, LGBT rights and Native American rights, Mr. Rodriguez said one of the first victories that happened in this congressional session was the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. The Congressman was a key supporter of that, Mr. Rodriguez said, and his first House speech was making sure the rights that were afforded under that Act for Native American women and lesbians were protected, because there were efforts to remove those two groups from the bill. Mr. Rodriguez said it was great to see all the issues the Commission is addressing because they are issues the Congressman and his office care about too. 8. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPT. 21, 2013 MEETING: Following a motion from Commissioner Chvany and second by Vice Chair Newby, the minutes from the Sept. 21, 2013 HRC meeting were unanimously approved (9-0). 9. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/AND OR VOTE: 9.A Mediation training, information and signup – Commissioner Brown introduced Olga Sanchez from Community Action Partnership of Riverside County who discussed mediation training for dispute resolution. She said Community Action Partnership offers basic mediation training consisting of 25 hours of in-class training. The program gives individuals the opportunity to go into the courtroom and practice mediation, she said. This basic mediation training is scheduled for the end of November and applicants must go through a background check, she said. There is a $225 fee, however individuals who volunteer through Community Action Partnership after 120 hours of volunteer service, the $225 training cost is refunded. They also offer peer mediation for elementary, middle school and high school students at no cost, she said. One of the duties of the Commission is to mediate disagreements among individuals, groups and organizations which result from discriminatory practices. Currently there is no trained mediator on the Commission, but both Commissioners Brown and Sutton-Weiss are interested in receiving the mediation training. Ms. Sanchez said Community Action Partnership offers community mediation services outside the courtroom for a $10 fee, but that can be waived depending on the circumstances. She said the upcoming training most likely will be the last two Saturdays in November and the first Saturday in December – eight hours each day – on the west side of Riverside County. After the first of the year, training will be held on the east side of the County. 9.B Ongoing calendar review, topics and discussion – The Commission reviewed the calendar. Chair Wilson Barton noted that in November there will be a speaker addressing the topic of autism and that is also Pride month. The Palm Springs High School principal will be the guest speaker in December. At the January meeting the Commission will be handing out its annual Community Service Awards. February is Black History Month and the Commission will be addressing the topic of racism. Immigration will be the topic addressed in March and in April women’s issues will be addressed. Vice Chair Newby is going to see about the Commission co-sponsoring or conducting an off-site event. Chair Wilson Barton asked Commissioners to think about organizations that are doing things that fall within the HRC’s Mission Statement and goals and possibly the HRC could co-sponsor an event or lend its name to those organizations’ events. Human trafficking will be addressed in May and in June the topic will be homelessness/poverty and in July the subject will be religious intolerance. For February, Commissioner Zendle suggested inviting someone to speak about the history of African Americans in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. Commissioner Rankins said he was thinking about inviting Joe Beaver to speak about that, if Mr. Beaver is feeling up to it. On the topic of homelessness and poverty, Commissioner Brown said he has contacted the Police Department and plans to visit Roy’s Desert Resource Center. 9.C Community Service Awards – Commissioner Zendle explained that the purpose of the awards is to promote universal human rights close to home and the Commission previously established the criteria for both individual awardees and organizations. He proposed that an announcement go out soon about the awards and that the deadline for nominations be Nov. 15. Commissioners should also use the nomination Human Rights Commission Minutes Page 3 of 3 Meeting of Oct. 14, 2013 3 form to submit their nominations, he said. Commissioner Zendle said then it will be up to a subcommittee to review the forms, determine who meets the criteria, look at the number of nominees and bring its recommendations to the Dec. 9 HRC meeting for the whole Commission to accept or reject those nominations. Chair Wilson Barton appointed Commissioner Zendle to chair the ad hoc subcommittee with Vice Chair Newby and Commissioner Sutton as members. Staff will put the nomination form on the Commission’s Web site. A news release will also be prepared. Commissioner Zendle made a motion that a subcommittee of himself, Vice Chair Newby and Commissioner Sutton be appointed and the deadline for nominations be Nov. 15 with the subcommittee reviewing the nominations and presenting its recommendations at the Dec. 9 Commission meeting. Following a second by Commissioner Brown, the motion was unanimously approved (9-0). It was also discussed to have Chair Wilson Barton promote this during the public comment segment of the Nov. 6 City Council meeting. 9.D Participation in Palm Springs Pride, Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2-3, 2013 – Vice Chair Newby said the Commission will have a booth at the Pride Festival, Nov. 2 and 3. A sign-up sheet was passed around and the following Commissioners volunteered to staff the booth: Saturday, Nov. 2 -- 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Les Zendle and Jilska Chandrasena 2:30 to 6 p.m.: Elena Chvany Sunday, Nov. 3 -- 1 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.: Deborah Sutton-Weiss and Janel Hunt 2:30 to 6 p.m.: Wes Rankins and David Brown Vice Chair Newby said he can coordinate the interaction with the Pride organization and get the vendor packet of information for the booth and the tickets. Commissioners Brown and Zendle will coordinate set- up and Commissioner Brown will be in charge of tear down. 9.E Business cards for Commissioners – Staff passed out the previous business card, indicating suggested changes and updates. Chair Wilson Barton moved to allocate $50 to purchase business cards using the template presented by staff. Following a second by Commissioner Rankins, the motion was unanimously approved (9-0). 10. STUDENT COMMENTS: Palm Springs High School Student Representative Maddie Barton said they took a pre-test during English class regarding bullying. Guest speakers will be at the high school tomorrow, she said, talking about bullying. 11. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS: None 12. STAFF COMMENTS: Staff reminded Commissioners that since their next regularly scheduled meeting is on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, a holiday when City Hall is closed, the meeting has been rescheduled to Monday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. in the Large Conference Room at City Hall. 13. AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NOV. 18, 2013 HRC MEETING: Possible expenditure to pay for one or two Commissioners to receive mediation training. Black History Month Town Fair participation. Update from the ad hoc subcommittee on the Community Service Awards. Recap of the Commission’s booth at the Pride Festival including how many people were spoken to and how many HRC material were given out. Invite the Palm Springs High School ROTC to present the colors at the Jan. 13 Community Service Awards presentation meeting. 11. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 4:03 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Lee A. Bonno Staff Human Rights Commission Liaison Director of Neighborhood & Community Relations